The Arrival of Ryder Corbin Carter

On friday, October 19, 2012 (my due date) I had a scheduled appointment at around 10:30 am.  I had been experiencing contractions off and on since the night before but not consistently, but I was hoping that the Dr would strip the membranes and that would get labor induced.  When I went into my checkup I was told that I was dilated to a 5 and she wouldn't strip the membranes because I needed to be admitted into Labor and Delivery first.  YAY!!  I was at the appointment by myself so I walked over the the Labor and Delivery and admitted myself for delivery.

It was about noon when I got to L&D.  I think the nurses there were thinking that I shouldn't be there because I wasn't in any pain yet, and I was texting people to take care of who would be picking up my kids and taking care of them and calling my family and friends that I had invited to be at the delivery.  Sadie and Braden were in school, the Bellante's agreed to pick them up from school and take them.   Mackenzie had school pictures early that morning and then Tumbletime train and Preschool, Shelby Urrutia took her to those activities and back home afterwards while my mom watched Callie at home until Shelby got back to take over with her so Mom could go to the hospital for the delivery.  My mother-in-law and Melanie were also there for the delivery, along with Jason of course.

Labor and Delivery nurses put me on an IV for fluids because I was told I was dehydrated.  My contractions picked up and I was moved to a delivery room around 2 pm.  From there I thought things would pick up quickly, like they did for the last two deliveries, but we just waited and waited for something more exciting to happen for about 2 hours.  There was no progression, the contractions were still about 6 min. apart, and I wasn't any further dilated.  I finally agreed to start the pitocin (which I dreaded because of previous experience) but first I wanted the epidural (which I had originally planned on not getting).  As soon as the lady came in to insert the epidural I started getting MUCH stronger contractions that I had to breath through.  I had mixed feelings of maybe I didn't really want the epidural because I knew that it was almost over now and I also wanted her to hurry up and take the pain away as fast as possible at the same time.  After some difficulty with inserting the epidural (she said my spine placement is really tight) and trying a couple times (while saying at the same time "I keep hitting bone" - yikes!) it was finally done and after a few adjustments because only one leg was numbing, it worked WONDERFUL.  Better than any of my others and I felt NOTHING except pressure.  No pain at all.  I was checked right after and it was time to deliver.  I didn't have to get the pitocin after all.
Pushing took at least 30-40 min, because my contractions were still about 6 min apart and so there was a lot of waiting between contractions.  While we waited between contractions, the midwife asked Jason if he would like to catch the baby.  Surprisingly, he said yes!  He suited up and was instructed by the midwife how to hold and turn him to help him out.  It was really neat to have him participate in the delivery.  He said it felt much more natural to be doing something to help with the delivery instead of just holding my hand.  He was very encouraging and helpful with the delivery as well.

At 4:30 Ryder was born!  Only we still didn't have his name picked at that point, we ended up leaving without a name and going back 4 days after delivery to sign the papers with his full name.

He was 8 lbs 8 oz, 21 inches long.  A big boy!  He was perfect.  He cried and started breathing well before he had even completely came out.

He had lots of dark hair and even some baby rolls.











I was very excited to show him off to his older brother and sisters.  Callie was the first to see him.  To my surprise, she immediately bonded with him and claimed him as her baby.

She didn't want to share him with anyone and couldn't get enough of him.

Mackenzie didn't really want anything to do with the baby... or me with all my tape and needles going out of my arm.

And Callie didn't want her to hold him either!  She started yelling at Mackenzie and letting her know he  was HER baby!

Braden and Sadie didn't get to see him until the next morning.  We hadn't planned on them coming in at all different times but it just worked out like that.  And it was probably better that way anyway, so it wasn't so overwhelming.  Jason even managed to take Braden and Mackenzie to their soccer games with all this going on.  Jason's mom took Sadie to her game as well.  My mom helped with Callie at home.

We appreciated everyone that helped at the delivery, with the kids at home - feeding them, taking them to/from school, pictures, soccer games, etc., or bringing food.  It was great to have help as we eased into the changes in our family and schedule.  We love having our baby boy in our family!